New York Giants still own big piece of Osi Umenyiora's heart

By ART STAPLETON and

The Record (MCT)|

Oct 04, 2014 | 10:54 PM

|EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —

Atlanta Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora (50) left the Giants via free agency two seasons ago and landed in Atlanta, where he endured through the frustration of a 4-12 campaign last year. He has been relegated to a specialized role on passing downs this season. (Dale Zanine, Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

Osi Umenyiora was asked a lot of questions in Wednesday's conference call with members of the media covering the New York Giants.

His most telling answer in the 15-minute give-and-take was not much of an answer at all, but nonetheless spoke volumes about the emotion Umenyiora is feeling as he returns to MetLife Stadium today to play his former team as a member of the Atlanta Falcons (2-2).

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Asked if he wishes he was still a Giant, Umenyiora hesitated before saying: "That's a question I can't really answer. I think I did what was best for me and the Giants did what was best for them. That's pretty much the only way I can answer that. Do I wish I was still there? Who knows what would have happened if I was still there? Nobody knows, so I can't look back at that with regret and I'm sure they don't look back at it with regret either."

Umenyiora left the Giants (2-2) via free agency two seasons ago and landed in Atlanta, where he endured through the frustration of a 4-12 campaign last year. He has been relegated to a specialized role on passing downs this season and the production from the former All-Pro defensive end that helped the Giants in two Super Bowl wins during his time here has dipped.

He has no sacks in four games and has been credited with just one quarterback hit in 103 snaps for Atlanta while playing outside linebacker.

"We haven't given him enough at-bats to really have an opportunity to affect the game," Falcons coach Mike Smith said.

Asked how Umenyiora looks on film, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said: "Like Osi. Very, very close on a lot of back-door plays, which he's very, very good at."

Umenyiora's never had the chance to get anywhere close to Eli Manning on the field, considering contact with quarterbacks is not allowed during practice.

"In practice he was in the backfield quite a bit, could have hit me a number of times but you can't hit the quarterbacks," Manning said with a smile. "Hopefully, our guys will do a good job and keep him away."

Umenyiora recorded 75 sacks in nine seasons with the Giants, earning plenty of respect, but he also was the center of contract squabbles and disagreements over playing time.

The Giants' 2003 second-round pick left the franchise, in his words, "on good terms," and he said he has mixed feelings about Manning being in his sights.

"Eli Manning is my brother," Umenyiora said, adding: "I have a lot of love for pretty much everybody over there, so I am not looking forward to just going out there and destroying my former team the way most people would think. I have a job to do. . I'm going to go for it no matter who the quarterback is, but I'm not looking forward to punishing him or anything like that. But if I have to, I will."

Keys to the game: The Falcons are in the unenviable position of knowing they must engage in shootouts to compensate for the league's second-worst defense while lining QB Matt Ryan up behind an offensive line down at least three projected starters. Atlanta has the league's most prolific offense through the first quarter of the season, but it's a tenuous perch considering the state of the offensive line. The backfield committee is averaging a surprising 4.8 yards per carry, led by Steven Jackson's 201 yards on 50 carries. His ability to keep Atlanta out of long third-down situations might be the key to Ryan surviving the season.

While the Falcons watch their front five crumble, the emergence of the Giants' O-line as a road-grading unit has paved the way for the offensive resurgence over the past two weeks. Journeyman RB Rashad Jennings is averaging 4.2 yards per carry and being adequately spelled by rookie Andre Williams, a Parkland High product. Buoyed by an improved ground game attacking a Falcons defense that was trucked over by Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon last week, QB Eli Manning can continue to avoid forcing the ball downfield while looking for higher percentage passes to the likes of emerging TE Larry Donnell.